


Happy Birthday, Akira

by jothtendou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Agender Character, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Mentions of kageyama and tsukishima and goshiki and koganegawa, Nonbinary Character, Supportive Seijou, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 15:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10441143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jothtendou/pseuds/jothtendou
Summary: A birthday fic for my favorite first year. It's Kunimi Day!





	

**Author's Note:**

> kunimi is agender and uses they/them pronouns no one can tell me different
> 
> this takes place the march of kunimi's first year, aka after all the training camps that happen in december, so i'm taking the liberties of saying that goshiki and koganegawa have kunimi's email okay ://

Kunimi wakes up on March 25th just like every other day. They smack their phone in an attempt to quickly shut off the alarm and glare with their eyes closed at nothing other than the fact that they have to stop sleeping. They go to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their face before returning to their room to dress in the Aoba Johsai uniform. A quick glance at the weather forecast on their phone tells Kunimi that it will be a warm day. Not too hot and not too cold — Kunimi’s favorite kind of weather.

It isn’t until Kunimi ventures downstairs to grab breakfast that they realize the significance of the day. Kunimi’s parents both work and the pair of adults leave before Kunimi wakes up, but Kunimi’s mother has written a note for them and left it on the dining table for them to read.

_Happy birthday, Akira! I’ve made your favorite for breakfast. It’s in the microwave. Have a good day at school!_

Checking the microwave reveals that Kunimi’s mother had indeed prepared their favorite breakfast food — strawberry crepes with salted caramel drizzled over the top. With a pleased hum, Kunimi takes the plate to the table to indulge in. As they eat, their phone buzzes with email notifications. Kunimi waits until they’ve finished their treat before checking them.

The first is from Kindaichi. _Happy birthday Kunimi!!!!!!!!!!_

The excessive use of punctuation makes Kunimi roll their eyes good naturedly before moving on to read the rest. All the messages have the same theme: wishing Kunimi a happy birthday. Most are from Kunimi’s teammates, but there’s one from Kageyama and Tsukishima and even Goshiki from Shiratorizawa and Koganegawa from Datekou (the last is much to Kunimi’s chagrin; how had that rooster idiot gotten Kunimi’s email address?).

Kunimi doesn’t take the time to reply to any of the messages. They figure they’ll see each of the senders eventually. So instead Kunimi takes their dishes to the sink to wash and put away. They grab their sports bag and move to the front door to slip on their shoes, and then they’re out the door.

Kunimi is half way to school before they realize how late in the year it is. March is the last month of school. The third years will be graduating soon and summer vacation will begin. Every other year, Kunimi’s birthday was never much of a big deal. They didn’t care for parties or gifts and would only use the day as an excuse to laze around. People were always busy around this time, anyway. The only person Kunimi typically has to convince to not make a fuss was Kindaichi. But knowing how much Kindaichi likes to gossip with Yahaba and how much Oikawa likes knowing frivolous information gives Kunimi a bad feeling about attending school.

It’s a relief to make it to their homeroom without incident. There were nothing crammed into their shoe locker and their desk was equally untouched. Kunimi is suspicious not to have Kindaichi approach them before class, but they let it go for the time being.

Classes pass by and Kunimi eats lunch at their desk while staring out the window. No one interrupts. It’s peaceful.

The next set of classes are harder to stay awake during, and Kunimi doses off here and there until the final bell rings. Their class divvies up cleaning duties, and it’s the first time for the day Kunimi uses the excuse of it being their birthday to get out of it. The class president flushes with an unknown emotion and grants Kunimi as free to go.

It’s still quiet as Kunimi makes their way to the volleyball clubroom. Kindaichi is still nowhere to be seen, and Kunimi wonders if he’s sick or something.

Suspicion returns immediately when they open the clubroom door and the lights are off. Kunimi braces themselves for nonsense, then steps into the room with a their usual blank expression.

The lights flicker on and confetti falls from the ceiling as each member of the volleyball team jump out from hiding places to shout a chorus of birthday wishes. Kunimi eyes the banner hanging from the back wall that reads “Kunimi Day” in Seijou turquoise.

Oikawa is the first to speak, of course. “Did you think we wouldn’t do anything for your birthday, Kunimi-chan? I bet you thought we only sent you emails!”

Kunimi shrugs their shoulders as they pick pieces of confetti from their hair.

Yahaba and Kindaichi approach at the same time, presenting a small cake with Kunimi’s name on it. Kunimi looks from the cake up to the faces surrounding them and doesn’t really know what to do.

They raise a hand to their cheek to rub absently at it for a few moments then mumble out, “Thank you.”

For some ridiculous reason, this triggers a round of whoops and shouts from the gathering of people and Kunimi has to roll their eyes again. The enthusiasm of their teammates is unneeded, but Kunimi thinks maybe they can use it to their advantage.

“Do I still have to practice today if it’s my birthday?” they ask, doing their best to emote an innocent expression.

This earns Kunimi a few laughs and it’s Matsukawa who approaches to gently pat them on the back.

“That’s up to Mizoguchi, not us, Kunimi. Good try, though. Maybe we can all bribe him with some of your cake?” Matsukawa’s smirk is as mischievous as ever.

Kunimi studies the cake and considers how good it probably tastes. “That’s okay. I can practice.”

That earns more laughter, and then people are coming forward with gifts and Kunimi is suddenly overwhelmed. They have to take a seat on the floor as they watch the pile grow larger with each addition. Even Kyoutani tosses them a small box before exiting the room.

When Kunimi just stares at the presents, Oikawa gets impatient and places the gift he’d gotten them into Kunimi’s hands. “Open mine first, Kunimi-chan!”

Kunimi stares at the bag for a moment longer just to make Oikawa fidget with impatience before reaching inside. It’s a picture frame and a letter. Kunimi turns over the frame to be met with what they can tell is a selfie of them and Oikawa together taken earlier in the year. Kunimi thinks it a bit egocentric before opening up the letter and glancing over it.

It’s almost heartfelt enough to make Kunimi tear up, but they push the tears away and instead turn their gaze up to meet Oikawa’s.

“Thank you, Oikawa-senpai,” they said with a genuine smile. Oikawa looks like he’ll cry in Kunimi’s place.

The presents are given to Kunimi one after the other then, teammates playing janken to decide whose gift is opened next.

Watari and Yahaba had worked together to pick out a stuffed animal for Kunimi. It’s a small Yachinyan “because you wanted to hug her when we all visited Yonbancho Square.”

Kindaichi made salted caramel like he did every year, but he promises that this batch is “even better than all the others!”

Kyoutani’s gift turns out to be a very cute cat ring that fits Kunimi’s thumb perfectly. Yahaba takes credit for giving him the idea.

Hanamaki claims to have made the cake and Matsukawa claims to have frosted and decorated it, but they both still hand over their own cards with silly jokes on the inside.

Iwaizumi is the last to present his gift and Kunimi feels flustered just holding the box. They slowly open it and close it immediately after seeing what was inside. Kunimi looks up at Iwaizumi with wide eyes only to see their upperclassman is avoiding their gaze.

“Iwaizumi-senpai,” they whisper, jerking their gaze to Kindaichi who is _also_ avoiding their gaze. Suspicious.

The room goes quiet. Apparently they all know what is in the box.

Kunimi wills themselves not to tear up as they look down at the pleated skirt Iwaizumi gifted them. It’s not as if Kunimi keeps being agender a secret from anyone on the team, but they don’t go around announcing it, either. Kindaichi was the first person Kunimi told and they’re sure he was the one to pass little snippets of things along as well. Kunimi had only tried on a few of their mother’s dresses and skirts, but they liked the way each of them felt. They were comfortable, much more comfortable than jeans or shorts. That’s all Kunimi wants in their wardrobe, but they aren’t yet confident enough to buy things like that for themselves, much less wear them in public.

The room is quiet and it feels as if Kunimi is being squeezed by too many emotions all at once.

“Kunimi.” Iwaizumi speaks and draws Kunimi’s attention to him. They hadn’t realized how much their eyes had begun to water until the vision of Iwaizumi is blurred. “Um… we all know and… you know we don’t think bad things, right? Uh. Well, what I mean is — we support you, Kunimi. We want you to be comfortable and happy. And, uh, I thought getting you something like this for yourself would be a good step in the right direction…”

Iwaizumi is clearly flustered, rubbing at his neck and looking away as he speaks through the side of his mouth. Tears slip down Kunimi’s cheeks as they nod and do their best to wipe the wetness away before it’s too noticeable.

“Thank you,” Kunimi says again. They ignore the way their voice breaks.

They’re trying their best to hold it together, but then everyone is hugging them and they can’t help their tears as they laugh and feel content and _happy_.

After Kunimi’s eyes are dry and their cheeks hurt from smiling, the team helps clean up the mess they made before heading too the gym for practice. Mizoguchi does, in fact, shout at them for taking so long, but he doesn’t single out Kunimi for once.

It’s Friday and Oikawa uses it as an excuse to goad the team into going out for karaoke to celebrate. Hanamaki and Matsukawa get a head start by singing Perfume songs at the top of their lungs during drills.

As ridiculous as the third years are, Kunimi is thankful for getting to know them over the past year and they know they will miss each of them when they’re gone. But for now, Kunimi thinks their birthday is a good excuse to spend time with their friends, and maybe having a fuss wasn’t so bad, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> the most unrealistic part of this is saying seijou made it to yonbancho square during the school year but yachinyan is adorable and Kunimi would luv her pls let me have this


End file.
